RO-1995-121

On Monday 11 December 1995 at about 0800 hours 20 LPA wagons loaded with roading aggregate rolled out of the loop at Raupunga onto the main line and ran down a 1 in 50 grade to Maungaturanga viaduct approximately 1.5 kilometres away. A painting gang working on the viaduct were forced to take urgent evasive action. The wagons came to rest a further 1 kilometre away on a 1 in 50 ascending grade and rolled back to the bridge. The causal factor of the main line runaway was unloading wagons on a crossing loop on a grade with no protection to stop runaway wagons entering the main line.

Safety deficiencies addressed in the report are the adequacy of the safety system meant to avoid such uncontrolled runaways on to main lines.